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Oct 1, 2014

History of Dogs of War

Carlos, war-dog veteran, 2014

In June of 2014, five US veteran war
dogs were present on Capitol Hill to represent canines in an effort to establish
that Congress emphasize a law passed last year saying that the
military “may” bring back working dogs to the United States to be
reunited with their handlers; to be changed that they go back with
their handlers when their tour of duty is finished. Carlos, pictured
at left, has his own Facebook page.

Dogs have a long history of
participating in warfare reaching back to ancient times. Dogs
continue to participate in military roles.

War dogs were used by the Egyptians,
Greeks, Persians, Sarmatians, Alans, Slavs, Britons, and Romans. The
Molossus
dog from the region of Epirus was considered the strongest to Roman
military units, trained and favored by the troops. Some scholars
state that the Molossus dog was used in the military first by the
Greeks, before the Romans.

Molossus - British Museum

A Roman copy of a Greek sculpture of a
guard dog, known as the Jennings Dog, is testament to that idea – now displayed in the British
Museum. Regardless, the Molossus was most commonly used as a guard
dog and hunting. As Grattiuswrote:

...when serious work has come,
when bravery must be shown, and the impetuous War-god calls in the
utmost hazard, then you could not but admire the renowned Molossians
so much.

Virgil
mentioned the Molossus:

Never, with them on guard, need
you fear for your stalls a midnight thief, or onslaught of wolves, or
Iberian brigands at your back.

Mastiff

Aristotle
mentioned the Molossus in his history of animals and praised their
bravery and physical superiority. To picture their size, one need
only look at the Mastiff.

In
the middle of the 7th
century BC in the war between the Ephesians and Magnesia, each
Magnesian horseman had a war dog and a spear bearer. The dogs were
released first and broke the enemy ranks, followed by an assault of
spears, then a cavalry charge.

Egyptian dog, similar to modern Greyhound

In
525 BC, at the Battle of Pelusium, Cambyses
II
used a psychological tactic against Egyptians by lining up dogs and
other animals in the front line knowing the Egyptians revered
animals.

In
231 BC, Roman consul, Marcus Pomponius Matho
led Roman legions through Sardinia, using dogs to hunt out natives
trying to hide in caves.

In
120 BC, Bituito,
king of Avenii, attacked a small force of Romans led by consul
Fabius,
using only dogs in his army.

Celtic dog

In
55 BC, Julius Caesar
landed in Britain to be confronted by Celtic warriors and their dogs,
the English Mastiff, the oldest recorded breed.

1914-1918:
Dogs were used by international forces to deliver vital messages. It
is estimated that one million dogs were killed in action during that
war. During World War I, English Bulldog was considered the unofficial mascot
of the US Marine Corps. The dogs were called Devil Dogs
(“teufel-hunden”) by the Germans (also a name given to the Rottweiler and Doberman Pinscher). US Marine posters soon had
bulldogs pictured to represent the ferocity of the US Marines, and in
1922 it became the official mascot for the United States Marine Corps.

Belgian Military Dogs pulling Maxim Gun carriage

The Belgian Army used dogs to pull their
Maxim Guns on wheeled carriages and supplies, and sometimes wounded
in carts. This use ended when trench warfare began after two months
of the war.

The French had 250 war dogs.

The Dutch army copied the
idea and trained hundreds of dogs.

1943-1945:
The US Marine Corps used dogs, donated by American owners, in the
Pacific Theater against Imperial Japanese. The Bull Dog had become
the symbol-mascot for the US Marines, and other breeds were used by
the US Army as well. Because of Winston Churchill, the English
Bulldog became a national mascot.

1941-1945:
Soviet Union soldiers used dogs strapped with explosives to destroy
invading German tanks. The problem was that the dogs were trained
with stationary Russian tanks, so seldom did they run under moving
tanks, instead being shot when running alongside moving German tanks.
If German and Russian tanks were present, the dogs would recognize
the Russian tanks and run towards them.

Sp4 Bealock and Chief

1966-1973:
During the course of the Vietnam War, about 5,000 war dogs served in
the US Army and about 10,000 US servicemen served as dog-handlers. K9
units, as they became known, saved over 10,000 lives. 232 military
dogs and 295 US dog handlers were killed in action during the war. It
is estimated that 200 Vietnam War dogs survived the war to be
assigned to other US bases outside the US. The remaining dogs were
either left behind or euthanized.

Hounds
were used in the American Civil War to protect, send messages, and
guard prisoners.

Dogs
were used as mascots in World War I as American morale and recruiting
posters.

Dogs
were used as scouts in World War II, Korea, as well as Vietnam,
detecting ambushes, booby traps, weapon caches, or enemy fighters
hiding on land or in water. The US Army had a dedicated dog training
school at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Afghanistan Military Dog

During
the Cold War, dogs were used as sentries outside of nuclear weapons
storage areas.

The US Air Force used dogs as sentries in Vietnam and
Thailand.

Today's
military dogs are equipped with canine tactical vests outfitted with
cameras, microphones, and even night vision devices. Personnel
cutbacks have reduced USAF dog teams to about 530.

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